On any given Tuesday evening, you can find Mason James hosting Open Mic at The Commons Cafe and Taproom, a gig he’s proudly managed for about two years. “It’s one of the most humbling and fulfilling experiences I’ve had in my career,” he says.
That’s a bold statement for a guy who’s always up to something in the local scene. Between playing solo gigs at wineries, community events like the Moonlight Market with his band Double Jump and running sound for events around town, he’s managed to do the impossible: make gigging a full-time job. Even on the Saturday afternoon the Source Weekly reached him, he was getting ready to play a house show with a friend’s band.
Having grown up in the San Diego area, James landed in Bend around 2019 in search of community — and he found it. In his experience, Bend is all “just people loving each other and wanting to be supportive of each other and [their] craft… always trying to share music with people who don’t know it, or just have fun.”
The Commons has proven emblematic of this communal spirit. James says he personally gets “a lot of life and energy from [the space] — as a coffee shop or a place to bring dates or to work or just sit.” And for him, that’s contributed to shaping a more unique open mic experience. “It’s more like a gathering spot than it is like a showcase,” he says. “A lot of people just come to watch. It’s like a show, which is not to say that other open mic nights aren’t like that… but you know, a lot of the mic nights, it’s mainly the people who are watching are also performing. The Commons gets so packed for the end, maybe more than half of [the audience] is there to support their friends, or they’re just there because they know The Commons is a great spot for a variety of music.” In fact, it was the runner up in the Source’s annual Best of Central Oregon readers’ poll last year.
When James took over the open mic, having been tapped to run it because of his reputation as a sound engineer and musician, he modeled that supportive audience member mentality — just listening and letting things run as they had for several years (with local musician and teacher Bill Powers hosting). While he took it all in, he noticed that it seemed like the same 10 folks were playing every time. And after a few weeks, he approached the owner about making some changes.
“I asked: Can I change it to a lottery system? Because that would encourage more variety,” he says. Now, hopeful musicians put their names in a jar for James to draw at random. “It was scary for a lot of people. It was scary for me, too, but it’s been a really good decision. Now, you don’t necessarily know who’s going to be first or last.”
The past few weeks in particular have been especially busy, with The Commons owner Dan Baumann saying he’s never seen it this busy and signups hovering around 20 per night — sometimes more than a two-hour block can accommodate. It’s not necessarily the worst problem to have in the period between New Year’s and Valentine’s Day, when local businesses typically see a dip in patronage. But it does have the potential to get frustrating for would-be performers.
“I do my best as a host to get through everybody and make sure everyone’s happy. It hasn’t been too much of an issue,” James says, especially since his friend and fellow musician, Mari (of Mari & The Dream), hosts open mic at The Cellar down the street at the same time. “We’ll text on Tuesdays, ‘Hey, how’s your list?'” If one of them is getting swamped, they’ll send acts each other’s way.
It all goes back to James’ favorite thing about the Bend music scene: “It’s not competitive here… this is such an uplifting community.” He hasn’t picked up any turf wars: “There’s no, ‘Oh, that’s our cover.’ It’s, ‘Oh, you should do it, too. Come jam with me, or join my set.’ If someone wants to do a house show just like someone else’s, it’s, ‘Do it.’ Not, ‘No, that’s my thing.'”
Soon enough, The Commons will have the benefit of longer days and outside space to accommodate the open mic’s growing popularity. But for now, James is content to lean on his community to make sure everyone gets their turn to share. “We’re all trying to do the same thing. We can all support each other.”
This article appears in The Source Weekly February 6, 2025.
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Awesome. Keep growing local music in Bend! There are a ton of people in this town who can truly play that you’ll never hear. Get out there and do it!